


Chicken Boy

by teamchaosprez



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depression, Family, Gen, Moving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 10:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13363161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: The story of how Shane moved in with his aunt.





	Chicken Boy

**Author's Note:**

> i love shane, my son, my boy,

When he was released from the hospital, they told him that he couldn’t live on his own; he couldn’t just return to his little apartment in Zuzu City, he had to be moved to the custody of his aunt on the outskirts of Pelican Town so that he could be observed. Shane wasn’t exactly happy about any of this; the point behind his trying to kill himself had been to die, not to have people that he barely knew try so hard to keep him alive and moving. He was willing to go along with it, though, to lessen the time he had to spend laying alone in a room with mint colored walls and too many motivational posters.

His Aunt Marnie came to get him on a cold winter morning, and the second he stepped off of the elevator into the waiting room she stood and moved forward to wordlessly hug him as tightly as he could. Shane was never much of a hugger, but he allowed her to embrace him nonetheless and moved in order to hug her back. When she pulled away from him, she had tears in her eyes, and for the first time a pang of guilt ran through his chest for putting her through any kind of pain.

“It’s all going to be alright,” she said in a weak tone, gently holding him by the shoulders with a weak smile upon her face. “You’ll feel right at home in the valley in no time. Jas is so excited, she wouldn’t stop talking about how her favorite cousin was going to come live with us for a while.” There was a warm smile on her face, and it looked like she was holding back tears, so Shane just forced a weak smile and nodded. He couldn’t be that optimistic if he tried; he doubted that living amongst nature would really assist his mental health all that much.

Marnie stayed by his side as he checked out, collected his prescription, and had a very brief conversation with the secretary about a follow up appointment; thank Yoba, his aunt decided to mention the nice doctor in Pelican Town and talk about setting up an appointment with him instead of coming all the way back to Zuzu City every few months to make sure he hadn’t killed himself yet and wasn’t planning on it. Every moment he stood in front of that counter, though, he became more tempted to.

After what felt like an eternity and a half, he could finally shove his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt and leave the hospital at long last. He took a deep breath of the polluted air, and felt just the slightest amount of happiness jolt through his heart despite its weight. Marnie didn’t own a car, just a clunky old tractor that she didn’t even use considering she didn’t grow crops, so he was stuck just following her from the hospital to a nearby bus station.. “I… do have some belongings I’d like to pack, Aunt Marnie,” he spoke cautiously, not wanting to make her change her mind about taking custody of him until he was considered mentally stable enough to live out on his own.

“Oh, I already had some help from Mayor Lewis earlier this week to get all of your stuff. We packed a lot of your clothes and loose things - pretty much everything but the furniture we couldn’t fit, really, like the table and the TV, but we have those things at the ranch.” She was smiling brightly at him, and although Shane knew that he was probably supposed to be grateful, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit anxious at the idea of his aunt and the mayor digging around his apartment. What if they read his journals - or found the many, many beer cans he had tossed aside?

“Thank you,” he said anyway, giving her a small smile - he wasn’t rude enough to not give her the gratitude that she was probably expecting, no matter how anxious the idea of near strangers in his tiny apartment bothered him. Well… not his apartment anymore, right? He was being forced to move out, and as far as he knew the landlord had already begun pursuing another lease. Now all he had was a bedroom in his aunt’s ranch, which he hadn’t visited since he was a little kid.

“Shane, I would do anything to help you out, and you should never forget it,” she sighed heavily, and he tensed when she gently put a hand on his shoulder - he might not see her often, but he knew that was a surefire sign she was about to go on a sickeningly heartfelt rant. “I… I know we aren’t close, and I know that you - rightfully - have some troubles trusting others thanks to your parents. But I want you to know that, no matter what, you are my  _ family, _ my nephew. I raised Jas and I’ll raise you.”

Maybe, but Jas’ parents were dead - his were very much alive, living like they would rather forget that their only son was alive, which they probably would. He wasn’t a child like she was, either - there wasn’t really any  _ raising _ left to do for him. Marnie was doing all of this out of the goodness of her heart, though - she was just being the kind, loving aunt that she always had been, so Shane didn’t have the heart to tell her any of that. He didn’t really want to say thank you again, though, so he settled for just giving her another forced smile that he hoped looked genuine - and it must have, because she gave him another bright smile as they walked to the Zuzu City Bus Station.

She made an attempt to lighten the mood then, chattering about Jas and how excited she was to see him again - how she wouldn’t stop talking about how she couldn’t wait to help him settle into the house and the town. He hadn’t seen Jas in years - he remembered her as a toddler, and he assumed she was around six or seven now - but he remembered her being a sweet, bright little kid, sort of shy but very kind; admittedly, he was looking forward to seeing her again, really.

The bus ride, though, was quiet and awkward. Shane didn’t especially want to talk, still kind of bitter about having been in the hospital for a month only to be declared not stable enough to live alone. He didn’t want to make it overly apparent to Marnie that he didn’t want to go live with her, and as for his aunt… she probably didn’t know what to say. What were you supposed to say to your depressed nephew? He  _ was _ the depressed nephew, and he didn’t even know.

The bus pulled into the stop next to Pelican Town early in the evening, and Shane was already fairly tired and dozing off when he was startled awake by the bus’s sudden stop. He blinked and watched for a moment as his aunt stood before he followed behind her, stepping out into the air that immediately took him aback with the smell of autumn and how fresh it was compared to Zuzu City.

“We’re going to have to go pick up Jas,” Marnie spoke up as she waved goodbye to the bus driver. “She’s with her friend’s family for today. She’s only seven, so I didn’t want to leave her home alone while I came and picked you up, and she gets a little bit… restless when she’s been sitting for too long, so this long ride isn’t reasonable for her.” She gestured for Shane to follow her, and began walking in the direction of the town - he followed behind her without much hesitation.

Jas sprinted out of the house as soon as they walked onto the path to the house, and slammed into Shane with a strength that he really didn’t expect from a child he last saw as a toddler. Her little arms squeezed around him, and he was a little surprised by the sudden hug. “I’m so happy to see you again,” she spoke softly as he leaned over to hesitantly hug her back. “Aunt Marnie says that you’re really sad, and that’s why you can’t live by yourself and have to come stay with us. I promise I’ll help make you happy again, okay?” Her big blue eyes were giving him a helpful and loving stare.

“It’s not-,” he began, about to tell her that it wasn’t that simple - that it was possible he would never end up getting over his depression, and that it wasn’t just a constant state of being sad that could be cured with a little bit of happiness. The look on her face, however, was enough to stop him in his tracks, and wait a moment before sighing and nodding with a weak smile. “Yeah, Jas, I missed you. I’m sure being with you and Aunt Marnie will help at least a little, right?”

After his reunion with his cousin, he introduced himself to the family friends that had been watching her - a woman named Jodi, and her two sons named Sam and Vincent. Sam was just barely younger than him, and apparently, the father of the family was away fighting in the war with the Gotoro Empire; something that Shane knew was happening but hadn’t really come across in a literal manner until now. The family seemed nice enough, though, and how kind they were to his aunt and younger cousin was enough to get him to like them well enough. On the way home, Jas talked excitedly about her friendship with Vincent, and how there weren’t any other kids in Pelican Town, and Marnie suggested that she show him around the valley and introduce him to everyone that lived there.

He had to admit that, for a situation his shitty mental health had forced him into, this didn’t seem all that bad. At least he wouldn’t have to be all by himself eighty percent of the time, anyway; he could have the company of his aunt and cousin, or any other villagers who were willing to be around him.

* * *

 

For the first month or so, Shane had hope for his mental health’s improvement. He dined with his family, got a job working for the recently built Jojamart in town, and did his chores around the ranch - developing a close relationship with the chickens in particular, fascinated by the ones with blue feathers and finding himself more interested in keeping them healthy and eating than he had been in  _ anything _ in years. Marnie, while attached to the chickens, never named them; Shane happily did exactly that, giving them nicknames that ranged from ridiculous to completely reasonable.

It was only a matter of time, though, until the loneliness caught back up with him. As much as he loved Jas and Marnie and the chickens, and as much as he enjoyed his life in the valley in comparison to Zuzu City… he hated his job at Jojamart, how much it took out of him and how he was treated more like a number there than anything else. Sam was fun to work with, but he still had to wake up at an ungodly hour to work for a soulless corporation, and it left him exhausted for such little pay.

He hadn’t had a drink since moving in with his aunt, and after two months, he finally wandered over to the saloon. He got drunk on a cold winter night, and it didn’t take very long for the calm feeling to wear off and for him to recognize that a month of sobriety had been lost. The self loathing in his chest was immense as he stumbled out of the saloon, ignored offers from Sam to help him home, and made his way back into the forest and to his aunt’s ranch. The disappointed look on her face certainly didn’t help - he had let down the woman that took him in to help him out of the goodness of his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to comment and kudos! <3


End file.
